It was a long break, but the Centralia boys proved to be the best wrestlers in the Clarence Cannon Conference.

Centralia CCC Quad Photo Gallery

After a week full of school and event cancellations following Christmas break, the Panthers hosted their annual conference quad and defeated Macon 57-9, Palmyra 52-22 and newcomer Highland 72-0. 

Head coach Luke Gramke said Centralia had to “gut it out” in a few matches after encountering some trouble. Some Panthers fell behind their opponents only to come back and win or make it a competitive match before a tough loss.

“Our lungs were not in the same position as where they could have been,” Gramke said. “Some kids felt that early, and they had to go find a win or at least wrestle with grit and heart.”

Gramke said Centralia never has to worry about its “overall effort,” including Waylon Adkisson in his 113-pound match against Macon’s Avery Young. Adkisson fell behind 7-0 before eventually picking up the pinfall victory but would’ve won the decision if it were decided by points. 

Louis Suddarth ended up losing his 157-pound match against Palmyra’s Brayden Pillars but made it interesting after falling behind by double digits. Suddarth started closing the gap after scoring a takedown that he couldn’t quite turn into a pinfall but still finished the night 2-1.

“There at the end of the match he was obviously not in his peak conditioning, and he still found a way to wrestle hard and put himself in a position to win the match,” Gramke said. “It did not go his way, but it was not a lack of effort. He kept on battling, and that’s what we ask of our kids.”

Blake Bodine lost his 126-pound match 7-4 to Rhett Pollard, but Gramke said he also put up a good fight prior to bouncing back with a pinfall in the Palmyra dual. 

Charlie Robinson at 132 pounds, Rex Bryson at 165, Ian Tuggle at 215 and Marshall Kable at 285 each were able to wrestle multiple matches and didn’t lose during the night. Bryson and Tuggle continue a season full of success as they regularly finish on the podiums at tournaments for the Panthers. Bryson has won multiple championships after coming off a shortened football season due to an injury.

“They’re feeling very comfortable and confident with what tools they have to offer,” Gramke said. “Rex is a hammer. Anybody that has to go out there and wrestle him has a tough job because he’s landing some blows and it’s not going to be comfortable for opponents.

“Ian had a great football season and transitioned into the start of a great wrestling season. We have a lot of finishers that have the capability to end a match. We do a good job of finishing when provided the opportunity.”

Gramke said he has plenty of good wrestlers that have a lot of good strengths, including freshman Gradon Hedberg at 106 pounds that didn’t have a chance to wrestle Thursday due to there being too many opens. Based on his observations during the quad, he said the Panthers definitely need more conditioning among other things.

“It transitions now to making what everybody is good at great,” Gramke said. “We don’t need everybody to know a billion wrestling moves. We need to make them confident with what they’re doing. With their mindset, they’re not going to struggle when something doesn’t go their way, whether they get chucked in a headlock and are down 7-0 or they don’t get a call going out of bounds. They’re just there to wrestle hard.”